CS 590M: Introduction to Simulation

Prof. Peter J. Haas

Spring, 2020

Course Policies and Procedures

Grading

Your grade will be based on the following:

Attendance (10%):
Class attendance is mandatory. There will be a few in-class collaborative exercises throughout the semester.
Homework (40%):
There will be five homework assignments. Students, working alone or in pairs, will write 4-5 increasingly complex simulation programs in Python, starting from an optional initial template provided by the instructor. Each homework will also contain pen-and-paper problems (to be done individually), so that students gain an understanding of the mathematical principles that underlie simulation algorithms. Details are given below.
Problem sets generally will be assigned Thursday and be due the following Thursday. (Some assignments will be due two weeks after they are assigned.) Late papers will not be graded, but should be handed in to obtain some credit. Please use the cover sheet for each of your assignments.
Some problems are designated explicitly as a "Computing Problem". For such problems, you may work in teams of two. Each team should hand in a report that contains (1) The solutions to any parts of the computing problem that require a writeup (2) a printout of the computer program and (3) a summary of the resulting output (do not hand in reams of output). For all other problems on the homework assignment, hand in an individual solution. Use one cover sheet for your individual solutions and a joint cover sheet (if needed) for group reports.
Turning in Assignments: We will be using Gradescope for grading homeworks and exams. You will need to set up a Gradescope account if you don't have one. Then you will need to enroll in CS 590M using code 9E2XRR. When turning in assignments, you will need to upload them to Gradescope as images or a pdf file; ask one of the teaching team or go to the Gradescope help page. Assignments must generally be submitted by 11:59pm on the day that they are due.
Late Homework Policy: You are allowed a total of up to three late days for the semester, allocated as needed. A late homework without compensating late days will get zero credit. If you are using one or more late days, please indicate this on the cover sheet. Each late day for a team project will count against the allotment of each of the team members.
Homework and Exam Regrading Policy: You must contact the TAs with grading questions within five days of when the homework or exam is returned.
Two Midterm Exams (15% Each):
There will be two evening midterm exams as specified in the syllabus. You will have up to two hours for an exam that I hope will be doable in one hour. A practice exam, similar in length and difficulty to the real exam, will be posted a week before the real exam, along with solutions.
Final Exam (20%):
This will be held during the May final exam period as scheduled by the University, and will be cumulative. You will have two hours. This exam will count for 20% of your final grade. A practice final and solutions to it will be posted before the actual final.

Online Discussion Forum

We will be using Piazza for online discussion; you can sign up for Piazza here. Class announcements will be transmitted via Piazza. Here are some ground rules for using Piazza:

You must converse respectfully with each other and with the instructors.
Posts are restricted to topics directly related to the class.
You may post anonymously (to other students), but do not abuse this privilege
You may ask for hints or clarifications, but do not simply ask for answers to the questions, or post such answers.
You are encouraged to help other students via posting (subject to the above restrictions).
For private matters you can post privately or email Prof. Haas.

Academic Honesty Policy

The Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), the world's largest professional computing society, recently released an updated Code of Ethics, and with good reason. Given the dominant role of computer technology in our society, ethical lapses can have disasterous consequences. Ethical behavior begins here at UMass. The following discussion pertains to academic honesty from the perspective of this course.

All work submitted must be your own in presentation. How much outside help is allowed depends on the course component.

The exams are open book (you may use my slides and your notes), but no textbooks or current/prior homeworks or exams are allowed. No electronic devices are allowed, except a calculator. allowed. Any cheating on an exam is grounds for an F in the course.
You may discuss homework with other students, in fact I encourage this as a learning experience. But again, the writeup must be your work. Copying is not allowed, and collaboration so close that it looks like copying is not allowed. In general, if we receive two identical homeworks we will accept neither of them (i.e., both get F's) and will give you a stern warning that could lead to formal action the next time. A good practice is to divide your work into an "ideas phase" where you collaborate and a "writeup phase" where you work alone -- enter the writeup phase with notes, but not written solutions.
If you make use of a printed or on-line source for the homework, other than specific course materials such as the textbook or web site, please mention it in your writeup. Of course copying a solution to a problem from the web is cheating, and this is easier for us to detect than you might think.
As per recent CICS policy, no student shall post course materials online without explicit permission of the instructor. Nor shall a student provide course materials to a third party such as StudySoup.

For more information about what constitutes academic dishonesty, please see the Dean of Students’ website for the general UMass academic honesty policy. Since students are expected to be familiar with this policy and the commonly accepted standards of academic integrity, ignorance of such standards is not normally sufficient evidence of lack of intent. You can take a quick online quiz to check your "academic integrity quotient (AIQ)".

Disability Statement

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to making reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations to meet the needs of students with disabilities and help create a barrier-free campus. If you are in need of accommodation for a documented disability, register with Disability Services to have an accommodation letter sent to Prof. Haas. It is your responsibility to initiate these services and to communicate with Prof. Haas ahead of time to manage accommodations in a timely manner. For more information, consult the Disability Services website at http://www.umass.edu/disability/.

Last modified 14 January 2020